[vc_row el_class="post-content"][vc_column][outlined-text outlined_text="Your First" outlined_text_color="white" outline_color="black" normal_text="Sneak Peek:" normal_text_color="black" heading_tag="h1" extra_class="post-heading"][vc_column_text el_class="post-subheading"]
A 3-Step Formula for Branding and Planning
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][get-user-data][/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class="post-body"]I really hope you’ll sign up for INVINCIBLE: The Most Direct Path to $1 Billion, the all-day advisor growth workshop we’re hosting with FourPointe Consulting and LiveOak Bank on May 9 in San Francisco and May 10 in Portland, OR.If you’d like a sneak preview of some of the themes I’ll be talking about, keep reading.
[vc_row el_class="post-content"][vc_column][outlined-text outlined_text="Say the" outlined_text_color="white" outline_color="black" normal_text="Right Thing:" normal_text_color="black" heading_tag="h1" extra_class="post-heading"][vc_column_text el_class="post-subheading"]
A Podcast on Mastering PR & Marketing
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text][get-user-data][/vc_column_text][vc_column_text el_class="post-body"]For a job that inherently deals with constant change, from fluctuating markets to the unpredictable life events, the role of a financial advisor is one that is often steeped in tradition. Tradition is outdated. As in nearly all other aspects of life, technology has changed the way that clients and potential leads interact with businesses. While many financial advisors have built their business on networking within established social circles, or through client referrals, that type of organic growth is swiftly falling by the wayside of taxi cabs and payphones: it’s becoming archaic. Before you counter with, “But that rapport is why my clients have stuck around for 35 years!” I want to make clear that relationships are still very much central to being a successful advisor. But it is much more common for a prospect to have Googled you and taken a deep look at your website before ever requesting that first meeting. The prospect is in control of the initial relationship, and many advisors are having difficulty adjusting. That’s where PR and marketing come in.
Everybody likes to think they’re open-minded. But what if you’re really not?
As I said last time, there’s no point in paying for outside advice if you have no intention of listening to it. But all of us have trouble admitting when we’re being stubborn or dismissive. That’s why, at FiComm, we’ve learned to look for certain telltale clues that suggest an advisor may not be emotionally ready to trust an outside professional.
Whether you’re a vendor or advisor, watch and listen for these statements coming out of an advisor’s mouth. They could express perfectly legitimate sentiments—but they can also signal that the time isn’t ripe for working with an outside agency.
Have you ever wondered, "Do I really need a Marketing or PR agency? Can’t I just do everything myself?" If so, this posts—and the next four that follow—are for you.
Last week, I was on a call with an advisor who asked me those exact questions about working with a PR agency. He told me, he could just write his own press releases and send them out across the wire himself.
"I can do the same thing you do," he said.
I told him: No, you can’t.
He took some convincing. Until that phone call, the only things he had ever seen coming out of a PR agency were poorly written press releases sent over for his approval. We gave him a glimpse of what really happens behind the scenes. We had to show all our work: the messaging, the strategizing, nurturing relationships with reporters, outreach, follow-up, and then more follow-up. Eventually, I did convince him, but the conversation was exhausting.
Surely there’s a better way.
In my last post, I talked about why your story needs a good villain. About why you need tension, and conflict, and a reason for your clients and prospects to cheer for you.
Now I want to share two examples of relevant, real-world companies with stories that feature great villains.
I have a question for you. You won’t understand at first why it’s important. But it goes right to the heart of who you are, and what your business represents. Just bear with me.
Who is your favorite movie villain of all time? Darth Vader? Hannibal Lechter? Voldemort? Norman Bates? The alien in Alien?
I have two.
Right this minute, we are watching the collision of two forces that are shaking advisor firms to their foundations.
The first is the commoditization of advice, driven in part by technology. Face it: investment performance is no longer a credible differentiator. Between the popularity of passive investing and the convenience of robo-advisors, few prospects are likely to be persuaded that your firm is really, truly, reliably a better stock-picker than your competitors. Most advisors recognize this fact, even if they aren’t sure what to do about it.
This is the story of how we lost an account. It was a painful lesson, but one that’s worth reading whether you’re an agency, vendor or advisor—really, anyone who’s invested in the growth of advisor firms.
Of course, I’ve changed the story to the point where it’s now completely fictional and no longer resembles anything that happened in real life. Only the lesson remains the same.
Why did you go originally into business with your partners? And as a follow up: how long did it take you to think of an answer to that question?
I’ve worked with some advisor teams that seem like a natural fit. They finish each other’s sentences. Complement each other’s expertise. And even use the same words to tell their story. It’s usually a clean, simple story, too. One was a quant head, the other a people person, but they both served the same kind of clients. Or maybe they both have a special interest in eldercare issues, SRI or some other specialty. It’s relatively easy to walk them through the process of developing their brand and honing their value proposition. They already believe in their purpose; they just need help articulating it.
Then there’s the other kind of team.
If you want to build your business, become a Ghostbuster. I’m not referring to the movie, exactly (I didn’t even see the sequel.) I’m talking about the theme song.